


“Okay, it was me… So?”

by PorcelainWings



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Gen, How Do I Tag, Let her live Nate, Lori just tried to do something nice for her BFF, Not gonna tag the others because they're mentioned but don't actually appear, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Sometimes a girl just wants to paint a portrait of her best friend's mother for her, fluff i guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29800362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PorcelainWings/pseuds/PorcelainWings
Summary: Lorelei just wanted to do something nice (and anonymous) for Farah - her boyfriend doesn't seem content to let that slide.~*~“Why are we doing this whole song and dance, Nathaniel? You clearly already know.”She catches the frustrating smirk before he has a chance to stop it. She loves the man, but she’s not sure how she feels about this attitude on Nate.“We do know, yes.” He admits. “But it would be nice if you actually stopped trying to hide it.”
Relationships: Female Detective/Nathaniel "Nate" Sewell
Kudos: 4
Collections: "Canon" Pairings





	“Okay, it was me… So?”

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this piece was: “okay it was me… so?”, with Lori specifically.  
> Thank you to @Sosolenoo for the request 💕

Normally Lorelei would never be opposed to having Nate’s undivided attention, but the eyes he’s been giving her since he arrived are not the kind of eyes she likes.  
It’s not like Nate to sulk, and yet that is the feeling radiating from his presence in the corner of her office.

“Darling, please,” she puts down her pen, meeting his pouting with her own. “This is getting ridiculous. Can you just tell me what I’ve done?”

“I don’t know, can _you_ tell me what you’ve done?”

She raises a single unamused eyebrow at his retort, though his instant cringe coupled with a sigh deems it unnecessary.

“I apologise, that was…”

He sighs again, likely an attempt to stall time to put his thoughts into words.  
Her raised brow doesn’t drop.

“You know,” he settles on. “Farah received a gift last night.”

Lori picks her pen back up and returns to the paper on her desk, humming thoughtfully…  
Innocently…

“Oh, did she?”

“Yes, she did. A painting, left in her room, of her mother.”

His gaze burns her with its accusatory heat, though she refuses to look up to meet it.

“And… did she like it?” 

The hesitancy behind her question makes it far more suspicious than it is.

“She loves it. She’s been smiling all morning, in fact.” Nate can practically feel her satisfaction at the news, even without witnessing her bright smile. “Adam and I, however, are highly concerned.”

“What?” Confusion causes her smile to drop as she swings around to question him. His casualness is suspicious, but his face is schooled so well there’s no way for her to tell whether he knows or just suspects. She can’t even tell if he has any idea at all and, underneath her confusion, her vexation with him grows. “Why?”

He waves away her questions, shrugging them off as if the answer should be obvious.

“Because an unidentified person entered our place of residence, _our **private** living space_, _our **secure home**_ , without permission.” She forces her eye not to twitch as he emphasises each descriptor in a very, very pointed way. “Don’t you _agree_ we should be concerned about that, Leina?”

She doesn’t like that look in his eye, not one bit.  
He’s not asking her… he’s challenging her.  
 _He knows._  
But he should also know very well that _she_ doesn’t rise to bait like that, _Mr. Sewell_.

“Well,” she taps her chin and pouts in thought. “Given that nothing was left out of place, for I have _no doubt_ you and Adam were very thorough in checking, I wouldn’t _assume_ any negative intent. Especially given all that occurred was the leaving of the portrait. Therefore, no; I wouldn’t be concerned unless something malicious happened or it became common occurrence.”

She confidently meets his challenging gaze with her own, the sharpness of her smile only increasing when he crosses his arms in displeasure.

“And yet, it was still an unauthorised _intrusion_. An _invasion_ by a person of who’s identity we are completely unaware-“

She groans, the fact that he was unwilling to let the matter go finally sinking in fully.

“Why are we doing this whole song and dance, Nathaniel? You _clearly_ already know.”

She catches the frustrating smirk before he has a chance to stop it. She loves the man, but she’s not sure how she feels about this attitude on Nate. 

“We _do_ know, yes.” He admits. “But it would be _nice_ if you actually stopped trying to hide it.”

“Okay, it was me…” she folds her arms. “So?”

The streak of confusion that crossed his face at her casual response was unexpected. His answering question even more so.

“So? Lori, why wouldn’t you just _tell_ her?”

“Why would I? It’s not as if I painted it for attention. When we were talking a little while back, she told me about her mum and-” she trails off sadly, toying with the sleeves of her cardigan as she takes a moment to consider how to continue. “She clearly misses her. And while I try not to go all counselor on you all, I know a lot of people dealing with loss like that struggle with worries of forgetting so… I just thought that maybe I could at least help with that bit. Even just a little.”

His gaze has softened since she last looked at him, his unfamiliar though welcome empathy and understanding being both something she adores and something that makes her feel far too seen.

“It’s not like it’s a _big thing_ -“

“It bothers her, Leina.”

Her blood runs cold despite the gentleness of his delivery, a sudden doubt forcing her out of her chair.

“It _does_?! No, nonono, that wasn’t supposed to happen! It was _supposed_ to make her happy, I thought it would make her happy! You _**said**_ she loves it! I-“

In a second Nate is by her side, her hands in his, concern etched on his features as he strokes calming circles onto her palm; he’d misstepped in his attempt to encourage honesty… sending her into a panic was _not_ the goal.

“No! No, it does make her happy. Very, _very_ happy. But it bothers her that she doesn’t know who to thank.”

The noise she releases is a frustrated mix of annoyance, relief, and confusion.

“Nate… she doesn’t _need_ to thank me. I did it for _her_ , not to be thanked.”

“I know, my love, I know. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to express her gratitude anyway.”

He runs his hands over her arms soothingly as she considers his words.

“I can’t just… send her an anonymous note saying it was a gift and she doesn’t need to worry about thanking me?”

“Leina.”

The chastising tone causes her to roll her eyes, blowing a strand of her hair away from her face with a huff.

“Fine, you’re right. I know you are.” She can’t help but smile herself as a satisfied smile finally takes form on his lips. “I just… I’ll talk to her and tell her it was me.”

He places a kiss on her cheek, his smile not dimming a bit.

“Thank you. You know, Adam won’t admit it but he had doubts that it was actually you… it’s been driving him **crazy** that he couldn’t say for certain.”

Much to his pleasure, she giggles at the knowledge like he’d hoped.

“Oh, so the great Adam du Mortain didn’t know… but _you_ did?” she teases.

He reaches up to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear before settling on cupping her cheek in his hand.

“You sign every painting with your name in hanzi inside a tulip. It’s on the hem of her left sleeve.” She tries to ignore the rush of affection that swirls in her chest at the revelation that he noticed her signature, forcing herself to focus instead on the touch of sadness on display in his eyes. “I _did_ hope that you’d tell us though. That you’d tell **me** at least.”

She places her hand over his as he strokes her cheek lightly with his thumb. Offering an apologetic smile with her explanation.

“I really wasn’t seeking any credit, or any acknowledgment at all in fact. I only added my signature on instinct and then just didn’t want to risk ruining the painting by covering it.”

He nods in understanding, though the meaningful look he levels her way gives her pause.

“Well, I, for one, am glad you didn’t. It was reassuring, to _me_ at least, to know we _didn’t_ have our **home** **broken into** by a stranger who leaves paintings of lost family members.”

She groans in resignation, playfully rolling her eyes at the obviousness of what his tone’s angling for.

“Ugh, fine. I’ll confess to du Morte too.”

Nate chuckles, placing a light kiss on the top of her head.

“And Morgan?”

She looks away shiftily, the resounding silence and refusal to meet his eye causing a dawning realisation.   
_Morgan hadn’t seemed concerned in the slightest when he and Adam had brought it up._

Lorelei had been wrong; she knows that know - Nate hadn’t been sulking _before_ …

~*~

[Link to Tumblr Version](https://gloynporslen.tumblr.com/post/639416122336313344/oh-yeah-prompt-d-okay-it-was-me-so-with)

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, that ending does indeed imply that Morgan knew it was her from the beginning... perhaps because she actually told her...  
> ~*~  
> Thank you very much if you’ve made it this far!  
> I hope it wasn’t too much of a chore!  
> Thank you, truly, for your time 💕


End file.
